Halo Wars 2 will get a PC beta "closer to launch"

A beta is underway right now, but only on the Xbox One.

Microsoft trotted out a Halo Wars 2 release date of February 21, 2017 at its E3 2016 press event, and also kicked off a week-long public beta test—exclusively for the Xbox One. But fret not! 343 Industries head guy Dan Ayoub told IGN that a PC beta is coming as well.

Interestingly, Ayoub said he dislikes the term “beta,” because he feel like it's lost some of its original meaning: It's used as much as a promotional tool these days as it is for actual testing purposes. The Halo Wars 2 test on Xbox One “is a true dev beta” that's being rolled out in stages so the studio can “react to feedback,” he explained. “And it's great, people have been reacting, and we actually rolled out an update today based on user feedback.”

“Closer to launch, we will have another beta that will be PC that people can hop in on,” he continued. When asked if the PC beta will be a “true developer beta” as well, he repeated that it will be "closer to launch,” implying that it will be a more polished experience, but noted that there will still be room to make changes. “We will react to it, we'll absolutely be able to react to it, we've got lots of good tuning tools that let us react to feedback quickly,” he said.

Ayoub demonstrated Halo Wars 2 running on Windows 10, and touched on some of the advantages of playing with a mouse and keyboard instead of a controller, during the PC Gaming Show at E3.

Andy covers the day-to-day happenings in the big, wide world of PC gaming—the stuff we call "news." In his off hours, he wishes he had time to play the 80-hour RPGs and immersive sims he used to love so much.